Across Greater New Haven, police seeing motorists who run from pursuits

‘They feel it’s worth it to run’

Published 7:17 pm, Sunday, December 4, 2016

Photo: Wes Duplantier/The New Haven Register

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Jairus Benjamin, 4, of Hamden died after the car he was riding in crashed Sunday night at the bottom of the northbound Exit 55 off-ramp from Interstate 95 in Branford. The driver of the car was allegedly fleeing East Haven police moments before the accident. less

Jairus Benjamin, 4, of Hamden died after the car he was riding in crashed Sunday night at the bottom of the northbound Exit 55 off-ramp from Interstate 95 in Branford. The driver of the car was allegedly ... more

Photo: Wes Duplantier/The New Haven Register

Across Greater New Haven, police seeing motorists who run from pursuits

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There were three minors in the car a week ago, including a 4-year-old boy riding on the lap of another passenger. But police said that didn’t stop the driver, Tyler Carey, 18, from allegedly engaging an East Haven officer in a 4-minute, high-speed car chase through town streets, parking lots and past two exits on Interstate 95 north.

It was too dangerous to continue the pursuit, so the officer slowed down and let the white Toyota Corolla get away.

“Criminals are starting to realize that a lot of departments have a ‘no chase’ policy, so they know that the officer will terminate if they (the fleeing driver) act recklessly enough,” East Haven police spokesman Lt. Joseph Murgo said.

Police across Greater New Haven agree: There’s no doubt car pursuits present a danger to the lives of the public, officers and occupants in the car. But Murgo said he believes incidents of people eluding police are increasing for several reasons. One is that drivers would rather flee than risk being caught for another crime, such as a pending arrest warrant or having a gun or drugs in the car.

“The penalty for running is less than the penalty of whatever they have in the car. They weigh it out and they’d rather run because they know the penalty is less,” Murgo said. “They feel it’s worth it to run.”

To decrease the number of car chases, Murgo said he would like to see more severe penalties for fleeing from police.

But the penalty for criminal possession of a pistol or revolver is a Class D felony punishable by up to five years.

If the person fleeing from police causes the death or serious physical injury of another person, they can be charged with a class D or C felony — which carries a penalty of one to 10 years prison sentence — and have their driver’s license suspended for one year for the first offense.

In Carey’s case, he was already facing charges in Westport for a June 23 arrest in which police said he led officers on a car chase on I-95 and gave a false identity. Jai’rus’ father, Brandon Little, who was also in the car fleeing from police Sunday, had outstanding arrest warrants from New Haven and West Haven, records show.

In New Haven, police spokesman Officer David Hartman said motor vehicle pursuits happen all the time, almost every day. The reasons people run from police vary.

“Most people don’t flee the police because they’re about to get a ticket for a moving violation,” Hartman said. “They run because they have something in the car that they shouldn’t, or they have a pending (arrest) warrant, or even something as simple as not having a license.”

New Haven has seen its share of pursuits that have ended in either an arrest, a crash or even death.

However, Hartman said, while those pursuits ended up in the media because “something went wrong,” what the public doesn’t see is that more often than not, car chases are called off because they are simply too dangerous to continue.

“If it isn’t an issue of violence, then generally the pursuit is going to be terminated,” Hartman said.

Since Jan. 1, East Haven police have been involved in 30 motor vehicle pursuits, 23 of which were “terminated” because the officer or supervisor determined “the conditions weren’t right,” Murgo said. The other seven all ended with the driver being arrested. There have been no deaths as a result of car chases in East Haven but there was one that resulted in a single-vehicle crash.

Woodbridge had one motor vehicle pursuit this year that ended in an accident with nonlife-threatening injuries.

North Haven officers have been involved in eight car pursuits in 2016, none of which resulted in an accident. Two of those resulted in arrests. North Haven police spokesman Capt. Kevin Glenn said he has not seen an increase or decrease “more than a normal year-to-year deviation” in that town.

Branford Police Capt. Geoff Morgan said he believes “roll call training and officers recognize the risk associated with pursuits,” which could be a reason there have been only eight in 2016, compared to the 12 they had in 2015.

In North Branford, Lt. James Lovelace said the Police Department was involved in four motor vehicle pursuits in 2016. There were no accidents, deaths or injuries regarding these pursuits, and one resulted in an arrest.

Hartman said there are “very strict” state and local policies in place to avoid putting innocent people at risk.

According to the statewide Uniform Pursuit Policy, an officer should initiate a pursuit only when he or she believes that letting the suspect get away would be more dangerous than the immediate danger created by the pursuit itself. That decision is based on road, weather and environmental conditions, population density, car and pedestrian traffic, the seriousness of the offense and whether the identity of the occupants is known.

“You have a split-second decision and an officer is weighing in many different things trying to figure out if this is the best course of action,” Hartman said.

When a pursuit is initiated, supervisors evaluate the need to continue the pursuit, monitor incoming information, coordinate and direct activities, and have the authority to terminate the pursuit.

Sometimes breaking pursuit is not an option, such the time Hartman chased a man for 20 minutes from New Haven to Hartford via Interstate 91.

The suspect had committed an armed robbery in Hamden, and when the first officer on scene attempted to stop the man by reaching into the car to turn the engine off, the suspect hit the gas and dragged the cop 150 feet, Hartman said.

“That was a very justifiable pursuit. You’ve injured two people, committed a violent crime and you’re armed,” Hartman said.

Once a person gets away in a car, it is almost impossible to find them, Hartman said.

Supervisors also communicate with neighboring towns when crossing town lines. For example, if a West Haven officer pursues someone into Orange, then a West Haven supervisor must communicate with Orange and coordinate the pursuit with them. The West Haven officer may or may not be called off depending on whether or not an Orange officer is able to continue the pursuit.

State troopers have statewide jurisdiction and they notify local department’s if a state police pursuit is entering their town.